大象传媒

Victims of a Pembrokeshire conwoman say they are delighted after she was jailed for three years.

Caroline Henderson 鈥� whose farmhouse was full of farm animals and who lived in a squalid storage container in a field 鈥揳dmitted taking more than 拢150,000 from victims.

A major police investigation into her activities was launched after the 大象传媒 Wales X-Ray programme was contacted by people who had paid thousands for plots of land near her home at Llanteg听 near Narbeth.

She had told them they could put caravans on the site and use it for holidays 鈥� but there was never any planning permission for this.

After sentencing at Swanea Crown Court one of her victims Graham Emery from Ton Pentre said:听 鈥� I think justice was done in the end and it has听 at least stopped her from doing it to somebody else and saved other people a lot of money and heartache.鈥�

鈥淭o think that she can do that and her barrister talked about remorse. She never picked up the phone and apologised to me and the people I'm in contact with she's never apologised to them so what remorse has she shown? 鈥�

In January 2015 she pleaded guilty to eight charges of fraud totalling more than 拢150,000.

DS Andy Wolley of Dyfed Powys Policesaid: 鈥� Caroline is a typical fraudster. She got to know her victims, knew the circumstances and the reasons as to how they had the money to purchase land but still went ahead with the fraud.鈥�

Parking firm employee听steals customer鈥檚 car

Father-of-two Tony Burns, 53, from Meidrim, Carmarthenshire, booked a meet-and-greet parking service at Gatwick Airport to look after his car after听a week-long family holiday in the summer of 2013.

The Rs09 meet-and-greet parking service was booked through comparison site Looking4Parking.com.

Mr Burns handed his car 听over on arrival at Gatwick Airport to a representative of the car parking firm. All went well at the outset. But on his return to Gatwick Airport a week later, a 20-minute wait for his car to be returned to him turned into an almost six-hour wait. Rs09 eventually admitted they couldn鈥檛 find Mr Burns鈥� car. They reported the car stolen to Sussex Police.

Mr Burns had to hire a car at the airport at a cost of 拢345, to get the family home. He also had to hire a car for four weeks afterwards, at a cost of 拢720 to get to work while his insurance claim went through.

He paid just 拢46 for the airport parking service, but now with a missing car and car hire costs he was now out of pocket by 拢1,065.

However, a month later - and just before his insurer paid out - Mr Burns received a call from Sussex Police said they had found his car.

The car was in working order, with no damage. Sussex Police issued a 53-year-old man from Horsham with a police caution for taking a vehicle without consent.

Rs09 blamed an 鈥榚x-employee鈥� who no longer worked for them for taking Mr Burns鈥� car and said he could pursue a civil against the employee if he wanted to claim compensation. They say: 鈥淲e did verbally apologise to Mr Burns.鈥�

They added that Mr Burns should be pursuing the individual who took his car for compensation in court. They also say that the cars they look after are parked with at the owner's risk and under the owner's insurance.听

However, consumer law expert Professor Margaret Griffiths says it is Rs09 who should be compensating Mr Burns.

She said: 鈥淩s09 can be held liable for breach of contract for failing to take reasonable care of the goods in their possession. Equally, they could be sued in negligence. Either way, the argument would be that they were negligent in allowing goods for which they were responsible to fall into the hands of a thief, the crucial point being that the thief was only听able to access the goods because they employed him.

听

TIPS ON HOW BEST TO BOOK AIRPORT PARKING听

Summary

• Check whether the airport you鈥檙e flying from has an approved off-site car parks scheme.
• 听For example, for off-airport parking.
• Look for the Park Mark庐 tick to ensure safer parking. Park Mark is awarded to parking facilities that have met the requirements of a risk assessment conducted by the police.

More info
At Gatwick Airport, approved off-airport parking suppliers have to adhere to Trading Standards鈥� Buy with Confidence scheme and the ParkMark scheme.

Buy with Confidence is an approved trader scheme operated by many local authorities across the UK. Businesses who become members of the scheme undertake to operate their company in a legal, honest and fair way. They will also offer a customer-friendly service and respond to complaints in a constructive manner.

Park Mark is an initiative by the Association of Chief Police Officers aimed at reducing crime and the fear of crime in parking facilities. The scheme is supported by the Home Office and managed by the British Parking Association.

Stansted, Luton, Bristol and Manchester airport car parks are all covered by Park Mark, for example.

BPA press release on airport parking from 21 Jan 2015

With the number of 鈥楳eet and Greet鈥� parking services at UK airports on the increase, it can be hard to make a confident choice. While you do leave your vehicle at an airport at your own risk, the British Parking Association provides a few handy hints to follow when selecting a service.

Comparison websites

There are some parking comparison websites that display the BPA logo stating that some of the parking companies it compares are members of the BPA, but not provide a list for you to check which ones.听 If you are unsure whether the company you are considering is a member call the BPA to verify. These websites may also display the Park Mark logo on their home page however,听a Park Mark is awarded to the car park, not a company听and the logo can only be displayed in the car park itself or in conjunction with the car park name. If it is, then you know that your car can be left in an environment that has been assessed.

The BPA recommends that customers:

1.听听听听 Check where the company will store their car. Can they point out their storage facility? If it is off site, and they usually are, can they tell you where it is, or show you a picture? Does the company own the storage facility?听

2.听听听听 Ask whether the car park has the Park Mark award. A Park Mark庐 is given to car parking facilities that have undergone an annual police assessment. To check use the听听at听

3.听听听听 Make sure you get a proper receipt. Check whether the receipt shows the company details 鈥� does the company name match, and is the address right?

4.听听听听 Are you doing business in a designated location 鈥� such as a stand at the airport or a kiosk in the vicinity of the airport? Not having premises is a sure fire indication that something might not be right.

5.听听听听 Is the member of staff that greets you wearing a uniform 鈥� and carrying an ID badge? If so, check the badge 鈥� does it match up with the company you think you are dealing with, in the location you are at?

A genuine Meet & Greet operator that has had their car park/s assessed by the police can display the logos legitimately. You can be confident that if the company you are considering is listed using the search function of the听website that the car parking firm and car park will be of a high standard.

To use the听听you can either type a location such as 鈥淗eathrow鈥� or a post code and up to 10 sites will be displayed. You can scroll down the list using the bar on the right hand side. Alternatively, you can click the check box 鈥楴ear Meet and Greet鈥� to refine your search.